Direct paymentsTameside
Direct payments in Tameside
If the council has agreed to pay towards care at home, you can take the money as a direct payment and choose who provides the care. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council says a direct payment can pay a self-employed carer, with some checks first. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
146 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Tameside
An hour of care in Tameside
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.20
- The council’s agency rateWhat the council allows for agency care, 2026/27
- £24.50
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 2026/27
- £16.59
A budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. Employing a personal assistant costs less an hour again, but makes your family the employer. What a weekly budget buys each way is set out below.
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Tameside
These are the rates Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council publishes for direct payments, with a link to where each one appears. Your budget is set in your support plan and can differ from them.
| What the rate is for | Rate | Applies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Care provider (agency) rate paid through a direct payment | £24.50 an hour | 2026/27 | tameside.gov.uk |
| Personal assistant rate paid through a direct payment | £16.59 an hour | 2026/27 | tameside.gov.uk |
| Direct payment, sleep in | £83.92 a night | 2026/27 | tameside.gov.uk |
| Care provider (agency) sleep-in rate for direct payments | £128.48 a night | 2026/27 | tameside.gov.uk |
| Direct payment, night sit | £142.61 a night | 2026/27 | tameside.gov.uk |
| Care provider (agency) waking night rate for direct payments | £171.28 a night | 2026/27 | tameside.gov.uk |
Hours for the money
What a weekly budget buys
A direct payment is a sum of money, so the useful comparison is how many hours of care it pays for. Move the slider to your own weekly budget.
Starts at ten hours a week at the agency rate. Move it to match the budget in your support plan.
- A self-employed carer on PrimeCarers12.5 hours
At £19.20 an hour. The typical rate near you, our fee included. The carer invoices for the hours, and that invoice is your record for the council.
- An agency, at the council’s rate10 hours
At £24.50 an hour. What the council allows for an hour of agency care. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ14.5 hours
At £16.59 an hour. The council’s rate for employing someone yourself. Your family becomes the employer, with payroll, holiday pay, pension and insurance to arrange.
Hours are rounded down to the half hour. Bank holidays are charged at one and a half times a carer's rate and Christmas Day at twice, so leave room in the budget for them. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council decides what your direct payment can be spent on, and your support plan is the final word.
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in Tameside
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant, who declares their own income to HMRC so payroll is not required. Self-employed personal assistants must have their own public liability insurance certificate, which they should show to the person or their carers on request before they start work.
“Self-employed PA’s must have their own public liability insurance certificate – which they should show to the person or their carer(s), on request, before they commence work.”
Councils tend to ask for the same few things before a direct payment pays a self-employed carer:
- the carer's employment status for tax, which HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool on gov.uk works out in a few minutes
- proof that the carer is insured
- a DBS certificate
- an invoice for the hours worked, which becomes your record of how the money was spent
How direct payments work covers asking for one, what the money can buy and the records councils want back, and self-employed carer or employee? explains the tax question.
The council's arrangements
How direct payments are run in Tameside
What the council publishes about paying the money, getting help and getting in touch. Each card links to the page we checked it against.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
A standard account means the direct payment is paid into a separate bank account you open and you pay wages and invoices yourself.
How the money is paid: Managed account
A managed account uses a payroll company to help manage the direct payment, and the council pays the funds into that account instead of your own. Personal assistant wages and agency invoices are paid on your behalf by the payroll company.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
A direct payment can be made as a one-off amount for things such as respite care or equipment, rather than only as ongoing support.
Worth knowing
When the council works out the amount in a direct payment account, the calculation takes into account any known liabilities and leaves an additional four-week payment as a contingency.
Worth knowing
The council pays for Disclosure and Barring Service checks on people employed through a direct payment.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Tameside
146 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Tameside. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
146 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Tameside
Filter by what they charge, who drives, who does nights, and who speaks your language, then message the ones you like. Free, and nothing is booked until you say so.
See private carers for TamesideStep by step
Using a direct payment for a carer you choose
- Get the assessment and the support plan. The council assesses the care needed and works out the budget. Say at this stage that you want a direct payment and would like to choose your own carer.
- Check what the council allows. Ask the direct payments team whether it will pay a self-employed carer and what it needs to see from them.
- Find carers and talk to a few. Search carers near you, compare rates, experience and reviews, and message your shortlist. None of that costs anything.
- Agree the hours and rate in writing. Match them to the support plan, and keep within the budget once bank holidays are allowed for.
- Keep the records. Invoices and statements are what the council looks at when it reviews how the direct payment is being used.
Questions
Questions about direct payments in Tameside
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant, who declares their own income to HMRC so payroll is not required. Self-employed personal assistants must have their own public liability insurance certificate, which they should show to the person or their carers on request before they start work. The checks a council asks for are usually the carer's employment status for tax, their insurance and their DBS certificate. Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed, hold an enhanced DBS and are insured while they work, and they invoice for the hours worked.
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council publishes £16.59 an hour for a personal assistant and £24.50 an hour for agency care for 2026/27. The full list, with links to where the council says so, is on this page. Your own budget is set in your support plan and can differ, for example if your needs include nights or two carers.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £19.20 an hour against £24.50 for agency care, so a budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. If your budget was worked out at the personal assistant rate of £16.59, it buys fewer.
In England a direct payment cannot normally pay the person’s husband, wife or partner, or a close relative who lives in the same household, unless the council considers it necessary. That is the direct payments regulations rather than this council's own rule, so ask the direct payments team how it applies it. Can my mum pay me to care for her? covers the other routes.
Only if you employ somebody. Paying a self-employed carer or an agency does not make anyone an employer. Taking on a personal assistant does, which brings payroll, holiday pay, sick pay, pension enrolment and employer's liability insurance. HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool on gov.uk tells you which applies.
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council's direct payments team on 0161 922 4888 or at [email protected]. If you do not have a social worker or care assessment yet, start with a needs assessment from adult social care.
Direct payments in nearby council areas
- Direct payments in Oldham
- Direct payments in Manchester
- Direct payments in Stockport
- Direct payments in Rochdale
- Direct payments in Salford
- Direct payments in Bury
If the care needed is mainly about health, the NHS may pay for all of it through Continuing Healthcare, decided by the NHS rather than the council. In Tameside that is NHS Greater Manchester.
Council details were read from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council's published pages and checked against them on 17 September 2026. Councils change their rates each April, so check the linked page before relying on a figure. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Tameside
See self-employed carers near you with their hourly rates, experience and reviews, and talk to the ones you like for free. Check with the council what your direct payment can pay for before you book.